This invention relates to magnetic disc drive assemblies of the class employing a stack of rigid discs in a standard housing profile.
Magnetic disc drive assemblies employing rigid, or hard, discs are commonly used in desktop and other computer mainframes as a principal memory for the computer. One difficulty with present disc drives is that there is often too little space within the disc drive housing to permit assembly of component and the addition of new components. Rigid disc drives employing a stack of rigid recording discs have actuator assemblies that include an E-block that rotates, under the influence of a motor, to position actuator arms at various radial positions between the discs. One or two load beams or arms are mounted to the distal ends of the actuator arms, each load beam supporting a gimbal which in turn supports a slider and transducing head to confront one disc surface.
The transducing heads are electrically connected to other portions of the disc drive through circuit connections. A flex circuit extends across the space adjacent to the E-block to a bulkhead connector mounted on a wall of the disc drive housing; the flex circuit being flexible and occupying the space necessary to bend or "fold" within the disc drive housing. The bulkhead connector is connected to other electronics within and outside the disc drive housing. On the E-block, the flex circuit is connected to a conductor assembly that is mounted to the E-block and extends along the actuator arms and suspensions to electrically connect the flex circuit to the transducers. In some applications, the conductor assembly comprises printed wiring supported by the actuator arm and suspension, and other applications, the conductor assembly may itself be a flex circuit that is mounted to the E-block. In either case, the conductor assembly and the flex circuit to the bulkhead connector are mounted to the E-block prior to assembly of the E-block into the disc drive. There is a need, therefore, for a conductor assembly that may be assembled to the E-block outside the drive housing with confidence of registration of elements to other parts.